Vol 1 Chapter 24: Side Story 2 – Adventure of Little Caelan with Mommy Part 2

That Night…

POV: Marry El Rose

A thin mist began to hang over the deep forest. Carried by the wind, the mist drifted downward and settled upon a chubby man who was sleeping while leaning against a rotten log.

The lace collar of his clothes was torn and tattered, devoured by the forest. Creeping vines, mushrooms, and moss covered his plump body.

Yet the man remained still, unmoving, as if the world itself had already abandoned him.

A single rose stem lay upon his body. Its petals trembled as the night wind brushed against them.

One by one, the rose petals fell, then floated into the air before the man. They spiralled together, forming a small tornado. Then—

As the small vortex subsided, a woman in a rose-adorned dress emerged. She took three steps forward and stopped in front of the chubby man.

Her silver hair fluttered in the night wind. Her blue eyes stared coldly at him.

“You have touched my daughter. I will not allow you to sleep peacefully—”

Marry snapped her fingers. A thorn shot forth from the snap and pierced the chubby man’s neck.

Marry closed her eyes for a moment. Then her lips moved.

“[Blood Memory Reading]!”

Marry read the man’s memories of sin. She could hear every scream of the victims tormented by this tyrant.

“Milord… I beg you, my wife is pregnant and hasn’t eaten for three days—” pleaded a thin man.

“Smack!”

“I don’t care. You lowly commoner… ungrateful trash!” the Baron shouted, his fat hand reddened after slapping the man’s face.

“If you cannot pay your taxes, then you will work by cutting down forest trees with your own sweat!” the fat Baron sneered.

…

A few days later, the chubby Baron strolled leisurely along a rural road. His lace collar fluttered in the cool breeze of Rose Valley.

In his left hand, he carried a roasted pig’s leg. Behind him, dozens of knights in iron armour marched in neat formation. Their armour gleamed under the sunlight.

The Baron stopped before an open field. There, hundreds of wooden grave markers stood upon damp, green earth. Beneath each marker, mounds of loose soil rose high. Rose petals were scattered across the earthen graves.

Among those hundreds of markers stood one engraved with the name “Lisa.”

A man with messy black hair was clinging to that grave. Tears soaked his cheeks and fell onto the loose soil. He stood there in silence before whispering:

“My wife… I’m sorry—I failed to save you… h-hic…”

The thin man clutched the gravestone tightly.

The Baron sneered. He snorted and said,

“That man hasn’t paid his debt yet! Knights, drag him into the forest,” the Baron ordered, pointing at the man.

“Yes, milord,” replied the armoured knights obediently.

A burly knight grabbed the man. The man struggled desperately, clinging to the grave as if it were his other half.

“No! My wife… please, let me hold her. Why are you all so cruel—” the ragged man screamed hysterically.

“Bam! Aarrgghh—!”

The brutal knight struck him.

The man collapsed onto the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.

“Shut up, you lazy bastard!” the knight barked harshly.

The knight dragged him away. The man’s eyes shut as blood dripped onto the graveyard soil, tracing his path.

The Baron smiled.

“Hm… this roasted pork is delicious!”

He bit into the meat greedily.

“He’s a filthy bumpkin! But at least the pork he brought is very juicy!”

Marry opened her eyes. Her blue eyes grew colder—like winter ice.

“Baron Chciwy… ruler of Rose Valley before the fall of the world’s memory—”
Her blue eyes narrowed.

“You raised taxes beyond what is humanly tolerable, forcing the villagers to work all day until it caused mass starvation.”

“Pregnant mothers and children died. And you did not even care about their burials.”

Marry clenched her fist.

“You even continued to clear the forest for military projects. Your greed knew no bounds,” Marry pronounced her verdict.

“And most importantly… you allowed my daughter to touch a filthy body like yours.”

“The world has put you into an eternal sleep. But—”
Marry ground her teeth.

“I never forget. The Blood Rose Princess remembers every scream of the victims you wounded. Now you will pay for your sins.”

Marry snapped the fingers of her left hand and declared,

“[Blood Rose Manipulation: Blood Rose Tendrils]!”

“Crack…”

The moss-covered ground split apart. From the fissures, blood-red rose tendrils sprouted—thick, thorn-covered vines of deep crimson.

They grew, coiled, twisted, and swayed in the air like slick tentacles. They were monsters that devoured the bodies of sinners.

A blood-red rose bloomed. At the tips of the tendrils, it whispered like a starving beast.

Marry smiled faintly as she looked at the familiar monster. She gently stroked the blood rose’s petals. The creature purred like a cat enjoying its master’s touch.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Marry said softly.

The rose monster snorted like an irritated horse denied its meal.

“Now you may eat again.”

Marry pointed at the chubby man and the knights sleeping on the mossy ground—tyrants and their followers whom the world had “put to sleep” after the Memory Artefact was destroyed seven years ago.

“Devour them as they devoured their victims,” Marry said coldly.

The blood rose tendrils nodded. They moved, dragging the sinners’ bodies one by one.

“Crunch… crack…”

The sound of bones snapping, blood being absorbed, flesh being chewed. Even their clothes and swords were devoured by the rose monster.

There was no disgust. No pity.
The blood rose tendrils consumed the sinners like predators devouring their prey.

A thorned tendril pierced the baron’s bloated cheek. His face was filthy, his eyes closed, his lips curved into a smile—

Yet the tendril crushed his head like a serpent coiling around its prey, utterly indifferent to whatever dream the corrupt noble was having in his eternal sleep. Then—

“Crack—thud!”

His skull was shattered. Its contents spilt out. Crimson blood soaked the mossy ground.

The tendrils absorbed every drop of red, staining the earth. Then they dragged every fragment—bones, flesh, organs, even clothing—into the rose’s serrated maw, grinding like a mill.

It fed greedily, like a predator consuming carrion.
Then it dragged the rusted knights’ bodies one by one. Each time it consumed a victim, a new tendril grew from its main stem.

Marry watched the cleansing calmly. Her blue eyes remained cold as she allowed her familiar to erase every trace of the sinners—until nothing remained.

A short while later… the tyrant and his followers had become fertiliser.

Marry approached her familiar.

Her hands were delicate, yet she showed no discomfort touching the blood rose’s petals. She smiled faintly before speaking her farewell.

“Return.”

The blood rose tendrils trembled. They withdrew into the ground. The cracks in the earth closed.

And when the last blood rose withered, the tendrils vanished from sight. The forest became clean—as if no massacre had ever taken place.

Marry smiled faintly as she gazed upon the restored forest. She walked slowly into the mist-shrouded night woods.

She disappeared… and returned to the embrace of her little daughter, who slept while hugging her rabbit doll.

After cleansing herself, Marry climbed onto her daughter’s soft bed. Her lips curved upward as she looked at her daughter’s tiny face, smiling in her sleep.

Marry kissed her daughter’s forehead and whispered,

“Thank you for being born for me, my love.”

Marry held her daughter close. Then she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep—as if the peace of that night belonged only to her and her child.

And that night… once again, the Blood Rose judged a tyrant. Not for the world—but to protect the smile of her little daughter.